VWCS elementary school bid rejected

Van Wert independent

It was inevitable, but Van Wert City School District officials came to a consensus during a construction Core meeting Friday morning to reject the general trades bids for the new grades 1-5 elementary school. Bids for the other four bid packages — Heating-Ventilation-Air Conditioning (HVAC), Fire Suppression, Plumbing and Electrical/Technology Cabling — are to be accepted.

Action will officially be taken during a special meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education that will be held Monday morning at 7:30 in the S.F. Goedde Building (former high school), 205 W. Crawford St.

The decision was necessary because of Ohio School Facilities Commission requirements that the aggregate of all apparent low bids for various segments of a school project cannot exceed 10 percent of the construction cost estimates for that project.

The five General Trades bids were all substantially over the $9.3 million estimate for that portion of the project. The lowest bid ($12,273,500) by Ferguson Construction was still nearly $3 million over the projected cost and would have taken the entire project cost over the 10 percent limit imposed by the OSFC.

Superintendent Ken Amstutz said Friday that new General Trades bids would be sought, starting Friday, April 15, with a new bid opening scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 19.